MetaFilter posts tagged with France and politicshttp://www.metafilter.com/tags/France+politics
Posts tagged with 'France' and 'politics' at MetaFilter.Tue, 23 Jun 2015 21:19:18 -0800Tue, 23 Jun 2015 21:19:18 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60Espionnage Elyséehttp://www.metafilter.com/150683/Espionnage%2DElyse
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/23/francois-hollande-emergency-meeting-wikileaks-us-spied-three-presidents-france">François Hollande calls emergency meeting after WikiLeaks claims US spied on three French presidents.</a> "The top secret documents derive from directly targeted NSA surveillance of the communications of French Presidents Francois Hollande (2012–present), Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012), and Jacques Chirac (1995–2007), as well as French cabinet ministers and the French Ambassador to the United States. The documents also contain the "selectors" from the target list, detailing the cell phone numbers of numerous officials in the Elysee up to and including the direct cell phone of the President.
Prominent within the top secret cache of documents are <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/intercepts/">intelligence summaries of conversations</a> between French government officials concerning some of the most pressing issues facing France and the international community, including the <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/intercepts/#intercept5">global financial crisis</a>, the <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/intercepts/#intercept3">Greek debt crisis</a>, the <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/intercepts/#intercept5">leadership and future of the European Union</a>, the <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/intercepts/#intercept3">relationship between the Hollande administration and the German government of Angela Merkel</a>, <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/intercepts/#intercept2">French efforts to determine the make-up of the executive staff of the United Nations</a>, French involvement in the conflict in Palestine and a <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/intercepts/#intercept1">dispute between the French and US governments over US spying on France.</a>"
You can <a href="https://wikileaks.org/nsa-france/">view the documents at Wikileaks</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2015:site.150683Tue, 23 Jun 2015 21:19:18 -0800standardasparagusFrench fashion and politics in the time of Marie Antoinettehttp://www.metafilter.com/149581/French%2Dfashion%2Dand%2Dpolitics%2Din%2Dthe%2Dtime%2Dof%2DMarie%2DAntoinette
<a href="http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/fashion-to-die-for/">Fashion to Die For</a>: "Fast fashion might seem like a modern invention, but in the turbulent world of 18th-century France, when Marie Antoinette was calling the shots, fashion moved at light speed." <a href="http://kimberlychrismancampbell.com/">Dr. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell</a>, art historian specializing in fashion and textiles, gives a delightfully rich interview to Collectors Weekly. Through the prism of fashion, she touches on class fluidity and lack thereof, gender roles, textile trades, guilds, self-expression &ndash; all elements that rapidly metamorphosized at the end of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancien_R%C3%A9gime">Ancien R&eacute;gime</a> and inexorably led to the French Revolution and its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror">Reign of Terror</a>. "French queens had always dressed magnificently but within the confines of very rigid court etiquette, and they were also answerable to the royal treasury. So in general they followed fashion rather than leading &ndash; they didn't want to rock the boat. But then <a href="http://www.chateauversailles.fr/l-histoire/personnages-de-cour/epoque-louis-xvi/marie-antoinette-">Marie Antoinette</a> comes along. Louis XVI didn't actually have a mistress, so there was a void in the fashion hierarchy. Marie Antoinette was enamored with the vibrant Paris <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/eudr/hd_eudr.htm">fashion world</a>, as everyone was at the time. Paris had replaced Versailles as the center of society and style, so she wanted to take advantage of the wealth of talent there in Paris, rather than having one official dressmaker who only dressed her, which is what previous queens had done."
"Most <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchande_de_modes">milliners</a> [FR] were low-born women, like <a href="http://www.designerindex.net/designers/rosebertin.html">Rose Bertin</a>, but Bertin was very unique in her success. <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924024290623">Bertin was extremely talented</a>, obviously, and one of her major clients was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Marie_Ad%C3%A9la%C3%AFde_de_Bourbon-Penthi%C3%A8vre,_Duchess_of_Orl%C3%A9ans">Duchesse de Chartres</a>, who was related by marriage to the King and was the richest woman in Paris in her own right. She introduced Bertin to Marie Antoinette, and once that happened, Bertin became unstoppable."
"In hindsight, it's pretty easy to see the French Revolution in fashion even a decade before it happened. Even at the time, certain astute observers were commentating on this in a 'what is the world coming to' kind of way. People were wearing black for everyday life, which was seen as a sinister omen. Throughout the 1780s, fashion workers like the embroiders' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild">guild</a> or the weavers' <a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_%28Ancien_R%C3%A9gime%29">guild</a> [FR] were constantly petitioning the King and Queen for help because they were losing so much business, as over-the-top luxury went out of fashion in favor of this self-conscious simplicity. The writing was on the wall." tag:metafilter.com,2015:site.149581Tue, 12 May 2015 11:40:48 -0800fraulaFrance's symbolic fight over same-sex marriagehttp://www.metafilter.com/128839/Frances%2Dsymbolic%2Dfight%2Dover%2Dsamesex%2Dmarriage
<a href="http://sisterrepublic.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/the-french-right-marches-against-gay-marriage/">The French Right Marches against Gay Marriage</a>. Last month, France became the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/29/world/europe/france-same-sex-wedding/index.html">thirteenth nation</a> to recognize same-sex marriage. A large religious and political movement continues to protest loudly against the Socialist government's "Mariage Pour Tous" (Marriage For All) law. From the start, opponents of the law used the well-worn political tactic of co-opting language, rallying around the name <a href="http://www.lamanifpourtous.fr/en/">Manif Pour Tous</a> (Demonstration For All). But the wrangling over words and symbols went much farther with the splinter group Printemps Français (French Spring). Slate.fr examines <a href="http://www.slate.fr/story/71511/printemps-francais-symbole">why the symbols of France's right-wing groups come from left-wing movements</a> [link in French], including the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the US Civil Rights movement. Political scientist Jean-Yves Camus notes:
<blockquote>In France, when you want to gain the support of the public, you use symbols from the left. If the fight ever moved toward the right and its symbols, it would risk two things: connections with homophobia, and with the <em>Front National</em>. The French Spring wants to acquire an image of moderation and non-conformism, and the first rule of the left is the demonstration. The people of the right do not have the same custom of taking to the streets to defend their rights...</blockquote>
French president François Hollande believes the opposition went <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2013/05/27/hollande-critique-l-emploi-du-vocabulaire-de-la-resistance-par-les-anti-mariage-gay_3418337_823448.html">too far</a> [link in French] when it began calling for "resistance" and referring to the government and the press as "collaborators." On the 70th anniversary of the creation of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conseil_National_de_la_R%C3%A9sistance">Conseil National de la Résistance</a>, Hollande declared that, <em>"The words still have a meaning... The Resistance was against Nazism, against the Occupation. The Collaboration were the French who were with the occupiers. And fascism, Nazism, dictatorship, are an era that is thankfully over."</em>
Mark Leonard (writing for Reuters) wonders if the French right's mobilization around same-sex marriage is a sign of a <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/mark-leonard/2013/04/22/protests-in-france-are-more-than-a-battle-over-culture/">shrinking political realm</a>. <em>"If no alternative is available on economic issues, politics will be reduced to symbolic battles about social issues."</em> tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.128839Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:24:10 -0800mbrubeckHigh earners in France consider moving in response to 75% taxhttp://www.metafilter.com/118701/High%2Dearners%2Din%2DFrance%2Dconsider%2Dmoving%2Din%2Dresponse%2Dto%2D75%2Dtax
<em>"We're getting a lot of calls from high earners who are asking whether they should get out of France," said Mr. Grandil... "Even young, dynamic people pulling in 200,000 euros are wondering whether to remain in a country where making money is not considered a good thing." </em> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/business/global/frances-les-riches-vow-to-leave-if-75-tax-rate-is-passed.html?pagewanted=all">French president François Hollande's plan to tax income above a million euros ($1.24 million) a year at 75% is alarming some.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.118701Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:36:54 -0800shivohumParis, London, Berlin, Brusselshttp://www.metafilter.com/118539/Paris%2DLondon%2DBerlin%2DBrussels
<a href="http://carnegieeurope.eu/publications/?fa=48759&lang=en">The Big Three of EU Foreign Policy</a>: Stefan Lehne on the contrasting roles of Germany, France and the UK. tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.118539Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:48:01 -0800rollick« C'est maintenant que les ennuis commencent »http://www.metafilter.com/115685/%2DCest%2Dmaintenant%2Dque%2Dles%2Dennuis%2Dcommencent%2D
<a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/election-presidentielle-2012/article/2012/05/06/francois-hollande-elu-president-de-la-republique-avec-51-9-des-voix_1696582_1471069.html">France has a new president.</a> With 51.9% of the second-round vote, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/18/francois-hollande-sarkozy-nemesis">François Hollande</a> has beaten Nicolas Sarkozy to become the first Socialist president of France since 1995. In his victory speech, Hollande declared that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/french-election-blog-2012/2012/may/06/french-election-results-sarkozy-hollande">"austerity is not inevitable,"</a> but international business interests have already <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/business/global/wary-markets-likely-to-wait-to-cast-vote-on-france.html">started rumbling</a> about Hollande's plans for <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/06/francois-hollande-rescue-french-economy">higher taxes on the rich and large-scale public sector investment</a>. The change in power is to be effected in next ten days, with Hollande scheduled to appear at the G8 and NATO summits on May 19 and 20. tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.115685Sun, 06 May 2012 13:45:09 -0800theodoliteStrauss-Kahn arrested for sexual assaulthttp://www.metafilter.com/103506/StraussKahn%2Darrested%2Dfor%2Dsexual%2Dassault
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/15/france-dominique-strauss-kahn-lifestyle">Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the IMF and likely French Presidential Candidate, was arrested in New York for sexual assualt today.</a> The Port Authority of New York removed Strauss-Kahn from the first class cabin of an Air France flight ten minutes before it departed for Paris and handed him over to the NYPD, whose Special Victims Unit is handling the case, for questioning. He is expected to be arraigned later tonight. <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/imf_boss_strauss_kahn_arrested_in_Kbd7uAi594vbej3oORXfcJ">According to the New York Post</a>, Strauss-Kahn is accused of forcing a hotel maid to perform oral sex on him and then immediately heading to the airport to fly to France, leaving his cell phone and other personal articles in the hotel. Fellow <i>Parti Socialiste</i> politician Jean-Marie Le Guen <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/05/14/2011-05-14_top_french_politician_dominique_strausskahn_dragged_of_flight_at_jfk_accused_of_.html">claimed hours before the arrest</a> that "there is now a totally structured and orchestrated campaign, which has already been announced by Mr. Sarkozy and his closest allies, to attack the character of Strauss-Kahn."
Strauss-Kahn <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/13/bloomberg1376-LL4OCJ6JIJUW01-5RPCSJMUDM6K5U8IF1OCDJ4OEJ.DTL">had been due to meet Angela Merkel</a> in Berlin on Sunday to discuss the European monetary crisis and the upcoming G8 summit. tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.103506Sat, 14 May 2011 19:19:20 -0800strangely stunted treesLa beauté est dans la ruehttp://www.metafilter.com/96939/La%2Dbeaut%2Dest%2Ddans%2Dla%2Drue
French <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_strike">general</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_strikes_in_France">strike</a> is going on. It's against a proposal by the French government to raise the normal retirement age for public pensions from 65 to 67 and early reduced pensions from age 60 to 62. All society is concerned. <em>Voilà</em> the manifestations of high-school students, <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfbm3a_la-beaute-est-dans-la-rue_news">so damn <em>chic</em></a>. tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.96939Sat, 23 Oct 2010 03:27:58 -0800-Hero of WWI. Traitor of WWII. Honored in Milltown, NJ.http://www.metafilter.com/89882/Hero%2Dof%2DWWI%2DTraitor%2Dof%2DWWII%2DHonored%2Din%2DMilltown%2DNJ
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/nyregion/08towns.html">A Local Street and a Lesson in History</a> Background: Marshal Henri Philippe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_P%C3%A9tain">Pétain</a> was a revered and honored hero of WWI in France, but after the War, "<a href="http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9901E4DD123FE433A25756C2A96E9C946696D6CF">the glorious savior of Verdun</a> <small>(pdf)</small>" rose to head the Vichy state, which <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/jewish_deportation_01.shtml">collaborated closely with the Nazis</a>.
After WWI, a <a href="http://www.milltownnj.org/">Milltown, NJ</a> street's name was changed to Pétain, in honor of his military leadership. <small>(See: "<a href="http://www.milltownnj.org/history.htm">What's a Name</a>.")</small> But a recent <a href="http://ebs.gmnews.com/news/2010-02-18/Front_Page/Nazi_link_prompts_call_for_street_name_change.html">campaign</a> by a local teenager asking that <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=250628626879">the name of the street be changed</a> gave borough officials <a href="http://njjewishnews.com/article/middlesex/student-protests-street-named-for-vichy-villain/">something to consider</a>: should Pétain's subsequent actions as head of the Vichy government outweigh his prior heroism? tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.89882Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:55:17 -0800zarqThe Economist: The World in 2010http://www.metafilter.com/86672/The%2DEconomist%2DThe%2DWorld%2Din%2D2010
In 2010, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742271&amp;d=2010">Obama will have a miserable year</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742417&amp;d=2010">NATO may lose in Afghanistan</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742202&amp;d=2010">the UK gets a regime change</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742173&amp;d=2010">China needs to chill</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742411&amp;d=2010">India's factories will overtake its farms</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742316&amp;d=2010">Europe risks becoming an irrelevant museum</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742680&amp;d=2010">the stimulus will need an exit strategy</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742524&amp;d=2010">the G20 will see a challenge from the "G2"</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742447&amp;d=2010">African football</a> will <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742399&amp;d=2010">unite Korea</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742547&amp;d=2010">conflict over natural resources will grow</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742345&amp;d=2010">Sarkozy will be unloved and unrivalled</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742553&amp;d=2010">the kids will come together to solve the world's problems (because their elders are unable)</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742615&amp;d=2010">technology will grow ever more ubiquitous</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742354&amp;d=2010">we'll all charge our phones via USB</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742624&amp;d=2010">MBAs will be uncool</a>, <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?d=2010&amp;story_id=14742752">the Space Shuttle will be put to rest</a>, and <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742450&amp;d=2010">Somalia will be the worst country in the world</a>. And so <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742182&amp;d=2010">the Tens</a> begin.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/">The Economist: The World in 2010</a>. Previously: <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/76924/The-Economist-The-World-in-2009">2009</a>, <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/66976/The-Economist-The-World-in-2008">2008</a>, <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/56666/The-Economist-The-World-in-2007">2007</a>.
<a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742528&amp;d=2010">How did we do last time around</a>?
Guest contributions:
President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742348&amp;d=2010">lines up Europe's priorities</a>
President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742373&amp;d=2010">argues for dialogue and cooperation</a>
President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742559&amp;d=2010">wants his island nation to remain above water</a>
President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742423&amp;d=2010">would like for Islam and the West to live in harmony</a>
President of South Africa Jacob Zuma <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742453&amp;d=2010">says Africa should rise to the occasion</a>
Director-General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742543&amp;d=2010">predicts the development of the flu pandemic</a>
Managing director of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742698&amp;d=2010">explains how to prevent another crisis</a>
CEO of Yahoo! Carol Bartz <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742618&amp;d=2010">believes business leaders should tap into the information flood</a>
Chairman of HSBC Stephen Green <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742686&amp;d=2010">argues that the financial sector should welcome emerging economies</a>
CEO of Fiat Group and Chrysler Group Sergio Marchionne <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742630&amp;d=2010">thinks greener cars require bolder action</a>
CEO/CTO of SpaceX Elon Musk <a href="http://www.economist.com/theworldin/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14742748&amp;d=2010">says the private sector should handle space travel</a> tag:metafilter.com,2009:site.86672Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:09:43 -0800goodnewsfortheinsaneAll is forgiven, tout est oublie.http://www.metafilter.com/66305/All%2Dis%2Dforgiven%2Dtout%2Dest%2Doublie
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7083339.stm">Sarko l'Americain addresses US Congress.</a> French President Nicolas Sarkozy has told the US Congress it can count on France's support against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear plan. [Full Text <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/07_11_07_sarkozy_speech.pdf">here</a> <small>PDF</small>]. Here also, is <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7080019.stm">a recent take on Franco-American relations</a></a> From the <a href="http://www.philaprintshop.com/frchintx.html">French and Indian Wars</a>, to the <a href="http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95sep/lafayette.html">American Revolution</a>, the French Revolution, the <a href="http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/lewisandclark/louisiana.html">Louisiana Purchase</a>, <a href="http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/so.php">World War I</a>, <a href="http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/no.php">World War II</a>, the <a href="http://www.oakton.edu/user/~wittman/chronol.htm">Vietnam War<>, <a href="http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/article.php3?id_article=181">the Cold War</a> and through <a href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1964degaulle-vietnam.html">de Gaulle</a>, <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Giscardd.html">Giscard-d'Estaing</a>, <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/1992/05/02/reac.php">Mitterrand</a>, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4015441.stm">Chirac </a>and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/11/sprj.irq.fries/">Freedom Fries</a>, there has never been a dull moment in this long and complicated relationship between two of the world's great powers.</></a></> tag:metafilter.com,2007:site.66305Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:28:47 -0800psmealeyMy, Easter eggs aren't what they used to be in 1995.http://www.metafilter.com/65812/My%2DEaster%2Deggs%2Darent%2Dwhat%2Dthey%2Dused%2Dto%2Dbe%2Din%2D1995
<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate_t?langpair=fr|en&text=sarkozy+sarkozy+sarkozy">sarkozy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Sarkozy">sarkozy</a>, <a href="http://blogoscoped.com/forum/112036.html">sarkozy</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2007:site.65812Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:48:23 -0800goodnewsfortheinsaneBonaparte and Bush on Deckhttp://www.metafilter.com/64169/Bonaparte%2Dand%2DBush%2Don%2DDeck
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkHknUmnBaA">Lessons from Past Western Incursions in the Middle East.</a> A speech by <a href=http://www.juancole.com/>Juan Cole</a> at the <a href=http://www.newamerica.net/events/2007/napoleons_egypt_invading_middle_east>New America Foundation</a> in which he discusses his new book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403964319/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/">Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East</a></i>, and the relevance and lessons of Napoleon's expedition in Egypt to the current American occupation of Iraq. A shorter version, covering many of the same points, is in this article: <a href=http://tomdispatch.com/post/174831/juan_cole_the_republic_militant_at_war_then_and_now> Pitching the Imperial Republic</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2007:site.64169Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:20:27 -0800homunculus'we will become the people you imagine we are, just watch'http://www.metafilter.com/47232/we%2Dwill%2Dbecome%2Dthe%2Dpeople%2Dyou%2Dimagine%2Dwe%2Dare%2Djust%2Dwatch
<i>Joblessness is a major motivating force of these riots, which is why the politicians and the press turn endlessly around the question of job creation in the banlieues. [...] An injection of vigorous enterprise, a big deregulating kick, and racial discrimination would evaporate in the tremendous, creative release of market forces. No race riots in an untrammelled market economy: that's what Sarkozy really means. It's an ingenious, high-pressure sales pitch for the 'Anglo-Saxon model' – indeed, it's bordering on blackmail.</i>
Jeremy Harding in the <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n23/hard01_.html">London Review of Books</a> goes among the arsonists in Paris and offers some insights on the economic factors and political consequences of the riots. tag:metafilter.com,2005:site.47232Sat, 03 Dec 2005 07:38:40 -0800funambulistSolutions For Grandeurhttp://www.metafilter.com/44997/Solutions%2DFor%2DGrandeur
<a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3112">Solutions For Grandeur</a> <em>Nicolas Sarkozy has become the most popular French politician by diving headfirst into the country's most explosive political issues. If he has his way, this hyperactive, pro-American, Gaullist, free marketer will transform French politics for good.</em> <a href="http://aldaily.com/">via</a> tag:metafilter.com,2005:site.44997Fri, 09 Sep 2005 21:25:57 -0800Kwantsar.http://www.metafilter.com/42393/
<a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/web/vi/0,47-0@2-631760,54-655042@51-656094,0.html">Red State/Blue state France</a>. <i>Les résultats département par département</i>. Remarkable that the U.S. isn't the only country that's split down the geographic middle. No translation, but the picture speaks for itself. tag:metafilter.com,2005:site.42393Mon, 30 May 2005 07:38:12 -0800jfullerneo-nazis + jewish exremistshttp://www.metafilter.com/27060/neonazis%2Djewish%2Dexremists
<a href="http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&amp;storyID=3108194">In france, neo-nazis and extremist jews unite against arabs</a> -- so says left-leaning anti-racist group <a href="http://www.mrap.asso.fr/">MRAP</a> (<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.mrap.asso.fr/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMRAP%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26safe%3Doff">view machine-translated page</a>) in a new report. <small>Yeah, the <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/26332#503991">conspiracy theorists</a> sure need more ammo...</small> tag:metafilter.com,2003:site.27060Thu, 17 Jul 2003 18:25:43 -0800TlogmerFrench Muslims Influence Government Policy on Iraqhttp://www.metafilter.com/23663/French%2DMuslims%2DInfluence%2DGovernment%2DPolicy%2Don%2DIraq
<a href="http://www.arabia.com/newsfeed/article/english/0,14183,371641,00.html">French Muslims Influence Government Policy on Iraq</a> This piece from an on-line Arab source helps us to understand the French reluctance to want a war with Iraq. And you thought it was only about French oil interests, but non. tag:metafilter.com,2003:site.23663Tue, 18 Feb 2003 10:22:21 -0800PostroadThey missed a good opportunity to keep quiethttp://www.metafilter.com/23643/They%2Dmissed%2Da%2Dgood%2Dopportunity%2Dto%2Dkeep%2Dquiet
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&amp;cid=518&amp;ncid=721&amp;e=6&amp;u=/ap/20030217/ap_on_re_eu/chirac_eastern_europe">"They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet."</a> Is it wise for France to make opposition to war against Saddam such a central tenet of their foreign policy? Opposing the war may be politically sound today, but this seems a bit heavy-handed, and perhaps short-sighted. Is "European solidarity" just a code phrase for "France and Germany get to call the shots"? tag:metafilter.com,2003:site.23643Mon, 17 Feb 2003 15:59:10 -0800Mark DonerFailed assasination attempt on Chirac at Bastille Day parade.http://www.metafilter.com/18446/Failed%2Dassasination%2Dattempt%2Don%2DChirac%2Dat%2DBastille%2DDay%2Dparade
<a href="http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=C10F177F-C169-4AD1-8FBF2CD8517204F7&amp;title=Neo%2DNazi%20Fires%20Rifle%20During%20France%27s%20Bastille%20Day%20Parade&amp;catOID=45C9C78C-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE">Failed assasination attempt on Chirac at Bastille Day parade.</a> According to police reports, the man who fired a rifle as President Jacques Chirac passed by in the parade celebrating the French revolution is a neo-Nazi with a history of emotional problems. Chirac was unhurt. tag:metafilter.com,2002:site.18446Sun, 14 Jul 2002 12:12:04 -0800me3diahttp://www.metafilter.com/16915/
There is no far-right Vichyite renaissance <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?020506ta_talk_gopnik">in France</a>, no Pieds Noirs uprising, nor, really, is there any antiSemitic rampage (Le Pen is spasmodically anti-Semitic but systematically anti-immigrant; i.e., anti-Arab.), but it's a safe bet that Jean-Marie Le Pen can never peacefully become President of the French Republic. It used to be said that for evil to triumph it was necessary only for good men to do nothing; in France, historically, for evil to enter it is necessary for good men to tell other good men that nothing is the best thing a good man can do. As the French are now being reminded, it is better to muddle through with your pants around your ankles than to die lucidly with your nose in the air.
How relevent these words and events are here in the US?
tag:metafilter.com,2002:site.16915Sun, 05 May 2002 13:29:00 -0800semmiSacre Bleu!http://www.metafilter.com/16549/Sacre%2DBleu
<a href="http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=worldnews&amp;StoryID=852235">Sacre Bleu!</a> The French presidential election run-off will be between the conservative Chirac and the extreme-right Le Pen. What's a French liberal to do? tag:metafilter.com,2002:site.16549Sun, 21 Apr 2002 12:27:58 -0800liamA conservative applauds high taxes and socialized French medicinehttp://www.metafilter.com/6307/A%2Dconservative%2Dapplauds%2Dhigh%2Dtaxes%2Dand%2Dsocialized%2DFrench%2Dmedicine
<a href="http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&amp;ArticleId=12871">A conservative applauds high taxes and socialized French medicine</a> We are often subjected to comparisons (often false one) of medical coverage between the U.S and Canada or the U.S. and Great Britain. Here is a happy Frenchman who loves his medical coverage. tag:metafilter.com,2001:site.6307Fri, 09 Mar 2001 16:26:20 -0800Postroad